Necktie form



y, 1958 T. D. THURMAN 2,843,850

NECKTIE FORM Filed March 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. faunas: DTHuRM A ATT QMEHS y 1 58 D. THURMAN 2,843,850

NECKTIE FORM Filed March 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tia-.6

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ATTOQNEYS United States Patent NECKTIE FORM Truman D. Thurman, Memphis, Tenn. Application March 8, 1957, Serial No. 644,855

4 Claims. (Cl. 2-448) This invention relates to a necktie form, of the type used in knotting the tie about the neck.

The inconvenience of knotting a necktie each time the tie is put on is of course Well known, and devices have been conceived for the purpose of reducing the amount of time and trouble involved in this operation. The present invention, in this connection, has as its main object the provision of an improved device to be incorporated in a necktie for the purpose of facilitating the engagement of the tie about the neck of the wearer, while at the same time forming a simulated knot that will be of symmetrical, attractive outline.

Another object is to provide a necktie form as described that will be wholly invisible when in use, and will give no indication of its presence within the necktie.

A further object is to provide a necktie form of the character described that can be permanently left within the necktie, and in fact would be ordinarily included in the necktie when the same is manufactured, to eliminate the necessity of locating the form each time a necktie is to be put on, and to eliminate, further, the requirement of properly positioning the form upon the necktie;

Another object is to provide a necktie form as stated that will be constructed Wholly of a single piece of rubber or other soft, resilient material, in the manner such as to permit said piece to be flexed during the tying of the necktie, to the desired shape.

Another object is to so design the form from the standpoint of its outer configuration and its longitudinal and transverse cross sectional shape as to provide a simulated knot having the proper amount of body to give the knot solidity, with the flexible characteristics of the form coacting with the particular cross sectional shape and outer configuration thereof also in a manner to insure against slippage of the associated portions of the necktie.

Yet another object is to so design the necktie form that the tying of the necktie will be accomplished swiftly, easily, and with a minimum number of movements of the portions of the necktie.

Yet another object is to design the necktie form in a manner such that it will hold the free end portions of the necktie in proper balance and in symmetrical arrangement' one in front of the other, with the material of these portions hanging in a natural manner and in a way such as to prevent wrinkles from appearing upon the simulated knot.

A further object of importance is to form the device in a manner such that it can be incorporated in a necktie during the manufacture thereof with maximum ease and minimum interference with normal tie manufacturing processes, with the device further being designed for incorporation in the necktie by reason of the relatively low cost of the device. I

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a necktie as it appears before application tothe neck of the wearer, the

necktie being equipped with a form according to the present invention; I

Figure 2 is a view of the necktie during the initial step of knotting the same about the wearers neck, the tie being illustrated on a scale smaller than that of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the tie in its finally tied or knotted condition;

Figure .4 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the tie in its finally knotted or tied form;

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary view similar to Figure 1 in which the back panel or underside of the tie has been partially broken away to show the device in rear elevation;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view through the tie taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5 on the same scale as Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view, the scale being enlarged still further, on line 7-7 of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is an enlarged front elevational view of the tie form per se, a locking flap being bent rearwardly as it would when the device is in use; and

Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device with the locking flap bent rearwardly, taken on line 99 of Figure 8.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a necktie 10 according to the present invention may appropriately be considered as comprising a front panel 12 and a back panel 14. As usual, the front panel is somewhat wider than the back panel, and further in accordance with conventional practice, the tie is of the type tubularly formed I from end to end of the tie. The tie may include, if desired, the usual stiffener fabric that extends within the tubular portion of the tie, but this has not been illustrated, since it is not essential for the purpose of illustrating and describing the present invention.

As will be noted from Figure 1, in a preferred embodiment the display panel 12, at the upper or inner end thereof, is not merged along continuing straight lines at the sides of the display panel into the sides of back panel 14. Rather, at its inner end the display panel 12 is formed with convergent side edges 15, defining a constriction 17 where the display panel merges into the inner end of the back panel 14. This constriction has been best shown in Figure 5, and the device 16 constituting the knot-forming means of the invention seats snugly within the inner end of the front panel 12, in engagement with side edges 15, against the constricted portion 17 of the necktie.

The device 16 is provided with a one-piece body 18 and in considering the general shape of the body, it may appropriately be said, in its normal, inoperative position shown in Figure 5, to be approximately U-shaped The bight portion of the body includes, at the inside edge of the bight portion, a centrally disposed thickened part 22, having an outwardly bulged front surface as shown in Figure 7. The thickened part 22 has sides converging along curving lines in a direction toward the inside edge of the bight part of the body, that is, toward the free end of the display panel 12.

The outer edge of the bight part of the body has a transversely extending, approximately elliptically shaped, thickened part 24, constituting a locking flap, and said locking flap is separated from the thickened part 22 by Patented July 22, 1958 3 a transversely extending groove 26 which extends the full width of the body, said groove being narrowest medially between its ends and being progressively increased inwidth along oppositely curving lines toward its opposite ends, again" as best shown in Figure 5'.

At 28 there have been desi'gnated'female gripper fastener elements, spaced apart transversely of the body and located at the inner ends of the legs20, saidelements 28- being shown to particular advantage in Figure 7 and being disposed at opposite sides of the thickened part 22. The elements 28 open upon the front face of. the device, that is, the face havingthe outwardly bulged surface on the thickened part and the groove 26.

A double-ended male fastener element 30 has heads 32, 34 at its opposite ends, the head 32 being engaged in one of the female fastener elements-28 and the head 34-bein'g adapted for engagement in the other fastener element.

In use of the device, as previously noted it is incorporated directly within the tubular body part of the necktie, at the inner end of the display panel 12. In use, the necktie is extended through the collar, and one need merely cross the portions of the necktie that project out of the collar at the front thereof; Then, the front panel 12 is extended upwardly with its back surface at this tage of operation facing forwardly, that is outwardly from the wearer. The back panel 14 extends downwardly as shown in Figure 2.

Then, the user flips the front panel 12 forwardly, to its Figure 3 position. In this connection, when the front panel 12 is flipped forwardly in this manner, the groove 26 is registered with the top edge of the neck-encircling portion 36 of the necktie, which neck-encircling portion would of course be defined by the inner end portion of the back panel 14. As a result, the locking flap 24 is flexed along the line of the groove 26 to its Figure 9 position, that is, rearwardly so as to effectively reinforce the knot-simulating portion of the necktie, in a manner that will prevent crawling of the knot or loosening of the same when the device is in use.

In any event, as previously noted the front panel 12 is flipped forwardly, with the transversely flexed body now straddling the neck-encircling part 36 as shown in Figure 3. Then, with the back panel 14 disposed between the female fastener elements 28, the device is flexed along a line extending longitudinally thereof, that is, the legs are shifted toward each other in a manner best shown in Figure 4, to dispose the elements 28 in confronting relation, so that the head 34 of the male element may be engaged in the female element 28 shown at the left in Figure 7.

This dimples the tie at the back, and secures the knot with the back and front panels hanging naturally in superposed relation as shown in Figure 4.

The device is so designed as to permit the necktie to be tied about the neck in a minimum amount of time and maximum ease, it being apparent that one need merely cross the portions of the tie as shown in Figure 2, flip the front panel forwardly and connect the male element 30 between both female elements 28.

When the legs are flexed inwardly toward each other they appear as shown in Figure 8, and it will be seen that there is thus defined a knot-simulating portion 38 of the necktie which will have an attractive, symmetrical appearance imparted thereto due to the fact that the body 18 of the device, when the legs 20 are interconnected by the fastener element means, taper the body downwardly, the. legs then, below their point of connection, diverging to terminate the knotsimulating portion 38.

The device is adapted to be tied either from the left 'or right side, without modification or redesign thereof, and it is further adapted to be inserted in neckties during-the manufacture ofthe ties, although the device could be inserted in neckties that are already in use if desired.

4- Further, the tie can be made in different lengths to fit different shirt collar sizes and waist lengths, and this will insure the automatic proportioning of the two ends or panels of the tie each time the tie is tied. The tie may also have a conventional slide adjustment feature, to provide for varying degrees of tightness about the collar.

It is still another desirable feature of the invention that the necktie, by reason of the sharp constriction or narrowing 17 thereof, gives more room for the bifurcated extension of the body, that is, the legs 20, to snap about the rear panel below the main portion of the body, to keep the knot short in length.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, said construction. only being intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means for carrying out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A necktie comprising an elongated, tubular tie member including front and back panels; and a knot form within said tubular member at the inner ends of the panels, said form comprising a body flexible in transverse and longitudinal directions and so shaped as to impart the simulation of a knot to the front panel when the front panel and back panel are crossed and superposed at the front of the wearers neck, said form including spaced fastener elements connected to the body thereof in trans-- versely aligned relation and a separable fastener element detachably connectable to the first named fastener elements and disposed exteriorly of the tubular member, whereby to permit extension of the back panel between the first named fastener elements with the second named fastener element extending in back of the back panel and connected at its opposite ends'to both of the first named fastener elements.

2. A necktie comprising an elongated tubular member including front and back panels communicating with each other at their inner ends, said member having. a constriction at the communicating inner ends of the. panels;

and a knot-forming body disposed within the tubular member in engagement with the constriction, said member being approximately U-shaped and being flexible both in transverse and longitudinal directions, the U- shaped form of said body defining a bight part and legs thereon, the bight part being shaped to impart the simulation of a knot to the necktie when the front and back portions are crossed and superposed atthe front of the wearer, said legs being shiftable toward each other and including first and secondseparable fastener elements connectable on movement of the legs toward each other,

' the second element extending exteriorly of the tie to permit the same to extend in back of the back panel on crossing of the panels.

3. A necktie comprising an elongated tubular member including front and back panels communicating witheach other at their inner ends, said member having a constriction at the communicating inner ends of the panels; and a knot-forming body disposed within the tubular member in engagement with the constriction, said member being approximately U-shaped and being flexible both in transverse and longitudinal directions, the U-shaped form of said body defining a bight part and legs thereon, the bight part being shaped to impart the simulation of a knot to the necktie when the front and back portions are crossed and superposed at the front of. the wearer, said legs being shiftable toward each other and including first and second separable fastener elements connectable on movement of the legs toward each other, the second element extending exteriorly of the tie to permit the same to extend in back of the back panel on crossing of the panels, the first fastener elements being of the female type, the second element being of the double-ended male type for engagement in both of the female elements.

4. A necktie comprising an elongated tubular member comprising front and back panels connected together at their inner ends; and a body of a material flexible both .in transverse and longitudinal directions engaged within the tubular member adjacent the communicating inner ends of the panels, said body being formed with a centrally disposed thickened part having an outwardly bulged front surface to permit shaping of a simulated knot thereof, the body further including a transversely extending locking flap spaced upwardly from the thickened part to define a transverse groove between the thickened part 15 and locking flap, said locking flap being flexible along the 6 line of said groove into a position in back of the thickened part to prevent slippage of the tie material relative to the body, the body including legs depending from the same within the front panel and fastener means separably connectable between the legs on flexing of the body along a line extending substantially longitudinally and centrally thereof, said fastener means having at least a part thereof projecting eXteriorly of the front panel for engagement in back of the back panel when the panels 10 are in superposed relation.

Less Dec. 8, 1936 Riordan et al. Oct. 17, 1950 

